Almost All Alaska Vets Seen Within 30 Days At Anchorage VA

Ninty-nine percent of veterans seeking medical appointments from the Anchorage VA are seen within 30 days.

That’s according to a Veterans Affairs audit released Monday. The audit found an established patient could schedule a primary care appointment within two days, on average. The average wait time was less than three days to see a specialist, and less than a day for mental healthcare. New patient wait times were closer to 30 days.

The auditors interviewed staff at hundreds of VA hospitals and clinics across the country. Nationwide, 13 percent of schedulers reported they were told to falsify appointment schedules to make wait times appear shorter. Sen. Mark Begich says the Anchorage numbers reflect great improvement. Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls them encouraging but warns they represent a snapshot in time and require commitment to maintain.

Liz Ruskin covers Alaska issues in Washington as the network's D.C. correspondent.
She was born in Anchorage and is a West High grad. She has degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. She previously worked at the Homer News, the Anchorage Daily News and the Washington bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. She also freelanced for several years from the U.K. and Japan, in print and radio. Liz has been APRN’s Washington, D.C. correspondent since October 2013. She welcomes your news tips at lruskin (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | About Liz